The Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, has expressed his satisfaction with the progress on the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, announcing that 30 kilometers of the road will be ready for President Bola Tinubu to inaugurate by May 25, 2025.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday, the Minister also praised the contractor’s workmanship, humorously likening it to the streets of heaven.
“The beginning of section one, as at today, about 15 kilometres by two carriage way on the average has been achieved, and at the end of the project at Eleko where section one stopped, about 5 kilometres has been achieved.
“So, the idea is by 25th of May 30 Kilometres continuously will be made available for Mr President to Commission from the beginning of section one down to kilometre 0 to 20,” Umahi said.
The section one of the highway according to the Minister runs from Victoria Island down to Lekki Seaport in Eleko area of Lagos State. He noted that about 17 kilometres will be jumped because of settlements.
Immediate tolling
Umahi said that he would be recommending to President Tinubu, that the first section of the road which he said will be completed by the end of this year, be tolled.
He said that the President sees the project more as an investment than as a legacy project, adding that the President is no longer focused on legacy initiatives.
According to him, the return on investment for the project will be very high which will benefit the Nigerian economy on the long run.
“When that is completed, I will be for immediate tolling engagement,” the Minister said.
Project transparent enough
The Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway is one of the major projects started by the Tinubu administration on assumption of office, but the project has attracted criticisms from many Nigerians, especially the opposition figures.
Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, who was the Peoples Democratic Party’s presidential candidate in 2023, and the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, both slammed the award of the contract, saying that it shrouded in secrecy.
Recently, former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, also criticized the Lagos-Calabar Highway, labelling the N15.6 trillion project “wastful.”
Obasanjo shared this view in his new book “Nigeria: Past and Future,” which was released during his 88th birthday celebration last month.
But Umahi defended President Tinubu, maintaining the handling of the project has been transparent enough.
“The President Bola Ahmed Tinubu never recommended any contractor to me, never sent any contractor to me, never interfered in terms of the costing,” the Minister said.
He said that Obasanjo has always praised him when he was governor of Ebonyi for his transparency, adding the former President cannot say otherwise of him now.